A Framework for Transforming Learning Organizations: Proposing a New
Learning College Principle
(CONTINUED)
STRATEGIES FOR TRANSFORMATION
The following critical strategies can help institutions achieve and
sustain transformational change.
REDUCE COMPLEXITY AND RESISTANCE
Complexity of major change efforts can be significantly reduced and
increase the likelihood of successful implementation when consistent
opportunities to gain clarity regarding its purposes and outcomes are
provided. Resistance can be reduced by providing opportunities for
broad- based involvement early in the change process. The establishment
of cross- functional teams to explore change and solicit involvement
frequently and from all levels of the organization is critical.
INVEST, COMMUNICATE, AND ACCELERATE
Organizations should plan strategically to reduce the complexity of
change by providing community members’ ongoing and consistent
information about the change and allowing and encouraging formal and
informal dialogue. Organizational transformation requires an investment
of time to research and acquire new knowledge prior to change
implementation and a commitment of time throughout the process to reexamine information and adopt changes. It is essential that
institutions develop a clear process for allocating and reallocating
appropriate resources to support change implementation. Communication
is critical in accelerating the rate at which an organization
transforms. Although authentic communication may be difficult for some
social systems, it is a necessary precursor to significant
transformation.
NEW MODELS INFORM ADOPTION AND CHANGE
Benefits resulting from collaborations and partnerships between student
affairs and academic affairs are significant and include the emergence
of innovative models in a variety of forms. Ongoing collaborations
across division lines and suggests blended partnerships can help create
new vehicles for engaging students and enhancing learning. Institutions
should seek to develop original conceptual models or identify
conceptual models from existing research to inform the process prior to
initiating change. Feedback from students can guide learning
organizations and help clarify what is needed to arrive at intended
outcomes.
ALIGN STRUCTURES AND RESOURCES
Institutions should align structures to provide a mechanism to allow
for effective leadership, role, and function clarification; the
allocation of resources; and appropriate assessments to examine the
qualitative and quantitative effects of change and the impact on
student learning and academic success.
To sustain the transformation effort, regularly provide opportunities
for the community to respond to, react to, and ultimately accept the
change direction.
The decision to change or adopt new practices should only be made after
considerable research and reflection. Deliberate development of
strategic plans is crucial as institutions phase change in to
complicated environments. Determine whether the learning paradigm or
any desired change is compatible with the existing cultures and capable
of aiding them in achieving the outcome of improved student learning.
Research and test innovations prior to full implementation. This
testing period will allow the community to react and adjust to change
and confirmed its compatibility in the new environment.
MAKE THE CHANGE FIT THE CULTURE
Taking time to understand and ready the culture for change will enable
all those within the social system to respond more positively in
support of change as well as create a culture where diverse learners
will thrive.
Institutions may need to redesign student delivery systems to be more
responsive to student needs and conduct a complete process overhaul
that includes architectural and organizational changes to support the
goals of enhanced student learning and success.
The adoption and change process is influenced by distinct elements in
the social system, specifically the core influences of leadership,
communication, institutional support, institutional culture, and
institutionalization. How leadership communicates change has particular
influence in the process particularly ways leaders define and
articulate their roles.
EXAMINE AND REDEFINE THE ROLE OF STUDENT AFFAIRS
Student affairs should be viewed as a full and equal partner in the
learning transformation. Institutions should examine the roles and
functions of student affairs in support of the learning paradigm and
confirm their accurate reflection to the commitment to student learning
and student success. They should examine the alignment of roles and
functions to achieve intended outcomes. Examine the role student
affairs divisions play in the discourse on student learning and in
leading the transformation.
Close the divide between student affairs and academic affairs and
create a commonality in language, a blended worldview, and
collaborative and innovative approaches designed to achieve student
learning. Student learning is not limited to formal classroom
instruction, but is facilitated and reinforced in every facet of the
college experience, including orientation and advising, where students
explore and make meaning of their experiences and learning.
USE DISSATISFACTION
Use satisfaction surveys, climate studies, and institutional assessment
as a regular part of institutional practice, and as such, when various
levels of dissatisfaction emerge throughout the organization, use that
dissatisfaction to develop innovative responses and plans for change.
Create an open system where even a minority of individuals can express
dissatisfaction and effect the change.
Establish open and honest communication channels throughout the change
process where input is solicited, listened to, and used to modify and
adjust the change direction where appropriate.
CREATE SEAMLESS SYSTEMS
Organizations should anticipate, develop, and incorporate seamless
systems that appropriately align services, functions, communication,
and leadership to achieve intended outcomes.
Create comprehensive systems that allow for the clarification of roles
and functions as change unfolds. These systems should assess the core
influences of leadership, communication, institutional support,
institutional culture, and institutionalization and their impact on
successful institutional change.
INTEGRATE TO SUSTAIN
Organizations should plan to integrate innovations into regular
practice through provisions for resources and support. Innovations
focused on improved student learning and success should be
strategically incorporated as new institutional directions serving as
catalysts for change in a way that isolated projects could not.
Institutions considering transformational change can benefit from
consideration and implementation of this seventh principle and these
critical strategies for transforming practice.
REFERENCES
Harvey-Smith, A. B. (2003). The adoption of the learning paradigm in
student affairs divisions in vanguard community colleges. Unpublished
doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland-College Park, Maryland.
O’Banion, T. (1997). A learning college for the 21st century. Phoenix,
AZ: Oryx Press.
Alicia B. Harvey-Smith mailto:ahsmith@ccbcmd.edu is Dean of Learning
and Student Development at the Community College of Baltimore CountyCatonsville Campus, and is the author of The Adoption of the Learning
Paradigm in Student Affairs Divisions in Vanguard Community Colleges
and Getting Real Proven Strategies for Student Survival and Academic
Success.